2015 Summer Symposium

JULY 11-19, 2015

At the Golandsky Institute Summer Symposium at Princeton University, participants will attend lectures, master classes, technique clinics, and other presentations by Edna Golandsky and the Institute’s expert faculty, all of whom have undergone years of rigorous training to qualify as teachers of the Taubman Approach. The performers and pedagogues of the Golandsky Institute’s faculty work with pianists of all levels - professional, student, and amateur. This one-week Symposium includes:

Private Lessons

Supervised Practice Time

Master Classes

Interactive Technique Clinics

Presentations

Lectures

Distinguished Guest Presenter Series

Evening concerts

The Summer Symposium attracts participants from all over the world - Europe, Australia, the Middle East, Canada, South and Central America, and from two dozen U.S. states. First-time participants are made to feel at home right away by the extraodinarily warm and friendly atmosphere. Many participants come back to the Golandsky Institute Summer Symposium year after year to learn from the Institute's faculty how the Taubman Approach can be used to accurately diagnose problems and determine their solutions.

RESIDENT AND COMMUTING PARTICIPANTS

For resident participants, tuition includes four private half-hour lessons, interactive technique clinics, daily lectures, master classes, practice time, and admission to all Symposium presentations and all Festival concerts. Resident participants will enjoy air-conditioned rooms in Princeton University dormitories. Most rooms are private with a shared bathroom between every two rooms. Depending on room availability, some participants may be housed in suites of four private rooms that share a bathroom.

Arrival: Saturday, July 11, 2015. Participants register from 2:00 - 7:00 PM. There is an orientation meeting that evening.

Symposium starts: Sunday, July 12, 2015.

Symposium ends: The program will end after the concert on Saturday evening, July 18, 2015.

Departure: Participants will depart by noon on Sunday morning, July 19, 2015.

Program is subject to change without notice.

At registration you will be assigned a teacher, with whom you will have scheduled lessons. If you have had no prior experience with the Taubman Approach, a practice assistant will be assigned to help you apply during practice time what you learn at lessons.

TIME

DESCRIPTION

8:00 AM

Breakfast with friends and colleagues, practice time.

10:00 AM

A lecture appropriate to your level.

LEVEL 1

For participants who are new to the Taubman work, there will be a presentation of the basic elements of the technique with explanations and demonstrations about how each element works.

LEVEL 2

For participants who have had prior exposure to the Taubman Approach, the lectures will focus on how the elements of the basic technique are integrated in order to promote ease of execution for passagework.

LEVEL 3

For participants enrolled in the Professional Training Program, interactive presentations will deepen the understanding of complex technical and musical issues in specific passages from the repertoire.

Noon

Lunch with friends and colleagues in Princeton University dining hall.

1:00 PM

Most of the master classes, presentations, and panel discussions are scheduled between 1:00 PM and 5:30 PM.

The Golandsky Institute International Piano Festival features six concerts in seven days every July at Princeton University. This Festival runs in conjunction with the Institute's Summer Symposium. Symposium participants have the opportunty to encounter the works of great composers and to deepen their understanding of the art of piano playing.

The International Piano Festival is open to the public and features performances by a roster of brilliant musicians from around the world presented for the benefit of Princeton's community.

If one attends the Symposium, they receive complimentary access to the Festival.

Tickets are sold separately to the public wishing to attend the Festival, but not the Symposium.

The Strings Program at the Summer Symposium is a week-long program for violinists and violists - professionals, students and amateurs. The daily technique lectures cover Taubman/Golandsky principles for first time and returning participants. Daily workshops provide hands-on practical help with problem passages and enable participants to experience the Taubman/Golandsky work in action. Master classes offer performance opportunities, both for solo and chamber music repertoire, and four private lessons enable every participant to address specific personal needs.

ABOUT

British violinist Sophie Till has been studying with Edna Golandsky for many years. The Taubman/Golandsky Approach for Strings has developed out of their collaboration. Ms Till presents this new approach annually in a week-long program at the Golandsky Institute Summer Symposium.

"At the age of 35, despite world-class teachers and a successful career as a violinist, I found myself in a predicament; my playing felt limited and I was groping for answers I could not seem to find. The result was solutions more like a patchwork of guesses that were far from reliable. Many colleagues seemed to be in a similar spot or worse, were starting to feel pain and discomfort from previously reliable technique. By contrast, I had seen my duo partner who had suffered a severe piano injury, retrain to a stunning level of virtuosity and musicianship under the guidance of Edna Golandsky and the Taubman Approach. I went to a lesson with him and intrigued by what I saw, started having lessons with Edna Golandsky: Violin lessons from a pianist. I immediately realized that here was an approach that could identify and itemize each separate physical movement that goes into playing, how these movements interact and how the physical motions go directly into music making of the highest order. Furthermore, through the Golandsky Institute, here also was a pedagogy so immaculately developed, that there was a clarity of communication beyond anything I had ever experienced before. For the past seven years, Edna Golandsky and I have been developing this approach and its pedagogy for the violin. I now work with professionals and students from all over the world and have adapted it for my work with children."

- Sophie Till, violin

"An intense two days, this was a brilliant workshop, one of the most comprehensive and immediately useful presentations that I've seen. Sophie Till is a gifted pedagogue who shares a depth of understanding with generosity. Her wisdom germinates in efficient body use and grows through all manner of technique, blossoming into meaningful musical outcomes. It was inspiring to be touched by her dedication, intelligence and passion."

"I approached Sophie as I had been experiencing playing discomfort and was in need of quick solution. From our first skype lesson, I knew this was going to be ‘big’. She was able to logically and clearly explain the answers to my many questions about approaching violin playing in a healthy way. The depth of her knowledge is extraordinary.”

By registering for the Symposium, participants grant permission to the Golandsky Institute to use any photograph or video containing their likeness. Such images may be used for promotional, news, research, or educational purposes.

Participants also agree not to record any part of the Summer Symposium (except for their private lessons) or International Piano Festival. Further, participants agree that any such recording will be used for personal reference only and may not be shared except with the written permission of the teacher.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

Call toll-free in the US: 1-877-343-3434
Call or fax: 212-875-0034

Email: symposium@golandskyinstitute.org

Please submit items through the post by regular mail (not special delivery) to the address below:

Presentations, Lectures & Master Classes

Perception and Reality in Piano Technique

EDNA GOLANDSKY

Edna Golandsky shows how the Taubman Approach can be illusive and that there is more to what we see than meets the eye. Through multiple examples, she will expand on this fascinating subject to bring perception and reality closer.

Schubert - Impromptu in G-flat Major, Op.90

ROBERT DURSO

Robert Durso examines the historical and musical elements of Schubert's Impromptu in G-flat Major Op. 90 and analyzes how to practice and master multi-level textures by applying principles of the Taubman Approach.

Navigating the Franck Sonata

MARY MORAN

Using concepts of the Taubman Approach, Mary Moran will discuss different considerations for technical and interpretive issues in the difficult piano part of Franck's Sonata in A Major, one of the finest pieces in chamber music repertoire.

When Hands Collide

JOHN BLOOMFIELD

It often spells trouble when both hands are required to play in the very same area of the keyboard at the same time. Using many examples from the repertoire, John Bloomfield shows how the two hands can be taken off a collision course.

2014 Summer Symposium Impressions

Our Summer Symposium is always an enriching experience for so many musicians! Check out the photos below to see for yourself. Click each photo to enlarge and view the description.

PHOTOS

Edna Golandsky presents a lecture

Professional Training Program Participants

Our co-founder Mary Moran presents a lecture

Edna Golandsky coaches a student

An arched portico on campus

Students enter Taplin Auditorium for International Piano Festival concerts

Resident participants stay in beautiful dormitories on campus

Town of Princeton

Participants have easy walking access to explore the town of Princeton

Inspiring architecture provides a serene setting to study music

Beautiful gardens on campus

Former U.S. President Woodrow Wilson's home on campus

Participants at a lecture

Intense learning of the Taubman Approach

All ages attend the Summer Symposium

Master classes presented on screens for multi-angle viewing

This participant flew in from Singapore for the Summer Symposium

This participant flew in from Argentina for the Summer Symposium

A participant carefully studying a score

Robert Durso lectures at the 2014 Summer Symposium

Our dedicated media production film crew record the lectures and master classes for purchase on our online store